Biography

Overview (2)

Mini Bio (1)

Jesse Wesley Williams born August 5, 1981 is an American actor, model, and activist, best known for his role as Dr. Jackson Avery on the ABC Television series Grey's Anatomy. He also appears in the hit 2013 film Lee Daniels' The Butler as real life civil rights leader Rev. James Lawson. Previous roles include Holden in The Cabin in the Woods (2012), Officer Eddie Quinlan in Brooklyn's Finest (2009) and as Leo, Lena's boyfriend, in the film sequel The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008).

Personal Quotes (20)

Coming from New York, you're kind of indoctrinated with anti-L.A. sentiment, but California is just a really dope state.

Storytelling is based on the word, being an honorable person of integrity is based on your word.

I'm kind of in a middle space, being marketed as a biracial actor. Roles are written either stereotypically black, or they're written 'normal,' which is just code for white.

There's so much material out there that's unnecessarily racist. It takes a shot at what is 'urban' or demonstrates blackness with some sassy, neck-jiving character that's not even relevant to the plot. I see it time and time again, and it doesn't move the story forward. It just kind of cryogenically freezes us in this old racial paradigm.

We often grow up being told that we can do this or that, but if you don't see anybody that looks like you doing it, you don't believe you can do it. But I had great teachers, and I wanted to be a great teacher.

I'm an athletic junkie - I play in all the celebrity all-star games, and I've become buddies with a bunch of athletes.

I thought that if acting didn't work out, I'd have done law school or medical school: probably law to be honest.

I like to take credit for the work that I have done.

I download, like, forty songs a day, I'm a big music collector and a big record collector.

I always find that really interesting, you know, when I get to see characters that I love in TV and film and theater around their family.

I'm always trying to find the next comedian that just gives me something a little funny to combine with all of the depressing news that I'm processing.

Storybooks were always a big part of my imagination, and my childhood and adolescence.

As an actor, you want to be able to move your character forward into new ground, but also it's really interesting to go backwards and unpeel those layers and the interesting elements of what your character is and what informs the decisions that you make so that you can have as much meat to work with.

I'm very grateful and fully aware that 90 percent of actors are not working. Going from public school teacher to a show like 'Grey's Anatomy', I love what I do.

We should all have the opportunity to at least get a basic education and feel that you are worthy of something in life.

Staying true to our goals, Question Bridge as a company and as a project is not singularly about black males. One of the things I'm so excited about Question Bridge is that my vision goes far beyond black males.

That's why the role that I have on 'Grey's Anatomy' is important to me, because it's a human being. He doesn't have to wear race on his sleeve; he doesn't even have to talk about it. We just lead by our actions.

You have to be up-front from the very beginning about what your expectations of the other person are, and you can't make any promises you don't intend to keep.

It was very important to me to be with a woman who is better than me at some things. You want someone who brings new, interesting things into your life.

Freedom is always coming in the hereafter. But the hereafter is a hustle. We want it now.